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The Way of the Superior Man: Rape culture. Gun culture. Culture of violence. I’d say “may the victims rest in peace,” but their families won’t – and there will only be more violence from alienated, disgruntled white boys who drown in privilege and entitlement, when they rage against their own insecurity.

I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m furious. Those poor families. What is wrong with us? We allow our society to be driven without direction, and it consumes its collateral not whole, but in a million pieces.

If you think for a second that you’re the master of your own agency, think again. We are what we eat and the bread is rotten. I’m most sad for today’s children because they will inherit the culture we maintained.

You may have heard that Beyonce mysteriously dropped an iTunes-only album, complete with artsy, dreamscape music videos accompanying EVERY song. It’s at its worst an egotistical experiment, but I imagine that’s the nature of every daring artistic endeavor. At its best, this album is a feminist musical revolution. Some have argued over the concept of Beyonce being a feminist, but this album is a deep exploration of her maternal instincts as her social consciousness has been raised by having a female black child in America. Clearly, this has forever changed her, and she presents a deeply developed cultural and spiritual perspective through a gendered lens.

Perhaps most importantly, this is her guerilla musical endeavor. She has broken rule and convention, and gone against every music label and institutional convention. That’s radical; that’s powerful. Her forceful push through these barriers could help usher in a new era of musical creation and changes in the institutions that have hindered musical brilliance. She’s owning her incredible power as a force of nature, from every possible perspective. As a black woman, she is reclaiming each and every particle of agency that is traditionally taken from women of color, especially as entertainers. That’s fucking BADass.

The controversy of Beyonce’s right to claim herself a feminist stems from the pettiness that grounds every social movement, least of all women’s rights. So she dyes her natural African American hair blonde and uses her sexuality as an entertainer. Well, that’s her choice and prerogative. It’s even more profound given that women of color in music and pop culture are often the most sexually objectified without consultation.

But before you might criticize her for claiming feminist agency, check yourself. Look in the mirror. I don’t just call myself a feminist – I AM a feminist. But yes, I shave my arms and underarms, wear makeup, high heels to work, and fake eyelashes for photo shoots. Why? Because I’ve been socialized to carry some shame otherwise. Just like her – though even more so because as a woman of color she enjoys even less privilege than I do. I imagine that you and every other feminist has some contradictions as well. But that’s what makes us human – and our fight to exist merely as human is exactly what defines us as feminists.

This album is at once high feminist art, even musical haute couture, and it is obviously ignited and inspired by her motherhood. But furthermore, she is deconstructing her own flaws, contradictions, and humanity. Thats’s the ultimate artistic endeavor – to bare one’s soul as we simply exist – as imperfect, simple, complex, confused, enduring human beings. Through soundscapes that evoke a glimpse of the music of tomorrow, Beyonce explores her existential demons as she exists- as just another human. That is the ultimate feminist statement.

I had the distinct pleasure and privilege to attend a DC event put together by an international non-governmental organization, that featured notable speakers and panelists on global women’s issues.

Hundreds of professionals and scholars gathered to learn more about the pandemic of violence against women and the barriers to universal education for girls. We swapped stories and traded perspectives; we bonded and tweeted; we texted our friends to let them know how much they were missing.

As I settled in to my seat with my glass of wine and a few chicken cordon bleu hors d’ouevres, I chatted with a neighbor.

In an instant, teenage Penny Liuzzo was overcome with a sense of dread. While watching television in 1965, she doubled over in a fit of nausea. She knew exactly why. “Oh my God, my mother is dead.” Her mother, Viola Liuzzo, had driven to Selma, Alabama to join the civil rights protests after the Bloody Sunday march to Montgomery. After a premonition, she begged her mother not to go. But Viola, fiercely independent and determined to make a difference, carried on.

Hours later, Penny lied awake in bed, unable to sleep. Her father called. Her intuition was correct. Her mother was dead. ‘Then something happened that Penny still cannot explain 40 years later. Her 6-year-old sister, Sally, walked into the bedroom and said, “No, Mama’s not dead. I just saw her walking in the hall.”‘

…chills!!

Liuzzo’s mother was brutally murdered by the KKK for being a voice in the civil rights movement. Now, the murder that divided a generation is again in the headlines, as it symbolizes a story with a revolving narrative in our society. From FBI conspiracies to the galvanizing of a social movement, to the tragedy of a family forever traumatized by being publicly scapegoated for their tragedy, to the reaching of the point of no return in a nation divided by the murder of a white woman in the deep south of Selma, Alabama.

This story starts out with shock and continues to build upwards past outrageous, finally culminating as an unforgettable injustice made worse by public backlash and government lies. The life and death of one of America’s greatest unsung (s)heroes of the civil rights movement comes to a head as the US Supreme Court heard arguments challenging the 1965 Voting Right’s Act.

Super(S)heroes Unite!

In dark times of social ills and inequality, when the hammer of oppression falls upon the masses, when beauty and truth are crucified in the commons, and when the collective VOZ DE LA GENTE falls silent in fear, there is one woman who answers the call. Neither god nor demon, she brings the flames of justice to the devil's door. Her voice is her only weapon. #JointheFight.

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The Way of the Superior Man: Rape culture. Gun culture. Culture of violence. I’d say “may the victims rest in peace,” but their families won’t – and there will only be more violence from alienated, disgruntled white boys who drown in privilege and entitlement, when they rage against their own insecurity. I’m angry, I’m sad, […]